POINT “A” TO POINT “B”
Psalms 144:1-15 (KJV)
A Psalm of David.
Blessed be the LORD my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight:
My goodness, and my fortress; my high tower, and my deliverer; my shield, and he in whom I trust; who subdueth my people under me.
LORD, what is man, that thou takest knowledge of him! or the son of man, that thou makest account of him!
Man is like to vanity: his days are as a shadow that passeth away.
Bow thy heavens, O LORD, and come down: touch the mountains, and they shall smoke.
Cast forth lightning, and scatter them: shoot out thine arrows, and destroy them.
Send thine hand from above; rid me, and deliver me out of great waters, from the hand of strange children;
Whose mouth speaketh vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood.
I will sing a new song unto thee, O God: upon a psaltery and an instrument of ten strings will I sing praises unto thee.
It is he that giveth salvation unto kings: who delivereth David his servant from the hurtful sword.
Rid me, and deliver me from the hand of strange children, whose mouth speaketh vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood:
That our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth; that our daughters may be as corner stones, polished after the similitude of a palace:
That our garners may be full, affording all manner of store: that our sheep may bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our streets:
That our oxen may be strong to labour; that there be no breaking in, nor going out; that there be no complaining in our streets.
Happy is that people, that is in such a case: yea, happy is that people, whose God is the LORD.
Years ago I read an article dealing with some of the difficulties of the ministry. It’s been long enough now that I won’t do the article justice but basically it compared the ministry to the work of, say an auto mechanic.
For the most part mechanic work is simple cause and effect:
· If you turn a wrench one way it tightens the nut
· If you turn the wrench the other way it loosens it
There are some things that are threaded the opposite direction but even then cause and effect is exactly the same:
· If you turn a wrench one way (the opposite way in this case) the nut tightens
· If you turn the wrench the other way the nut loosens
At the time I was still a working ironworker so I could appreciate this picture.
Every day I left the project and could see with my own eyes what we had accomplished that day.
· I worked iron and
· Iron went up
The difficulty with the ministry, according to this article I read, is that very little of it is simple cause and effect.
· Inviting people to attend church doesn’t ALWAYS result in them coming to church
· Praying for a family to be restored doesn’t ALWAYS result in a divorce being prevented
· Preaching a spirit filled message doesn’t ALWAYS result in people turning from sin
There is some truth to that but it is too simple.
It only views the surface; what can be seen with the natural eye. And it only sees the temporal, not the eternal.
From a spiritual/eternal viewpoint, the Bible is full of cause and effect:
· Do this and
· This will happen
This passage is a case in point. Look at
Psalms 144:15 (KJV)
Happy is that people, that is in such a case: yea, happy is that people, whose God is the LORD.
Who doesn’t want to be happy?
Who doesn’t want to hang around and be associated with happy people?
I propose to you that this Psalm is a recipe for happiness.
I declare to you this evening that:
· Happiness is possible
· Happy people is a possibility
It is possible to be happy and to dwell among happy people.
It is as simple as obeying the pattern laid out in this Psalm.
I. EXALT THE LORD
Psalms 144:1-2 (KJV)
Blessed be the LORD my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight:
My goodness, and my fortress; my high tower, and my deliverer; my shield, and he in whom I trust; who subdueth my people under me.
Let me read another verse to you.
1 Chronicles 29:20 (KJV)
And David said to all the congregation, Now bless the LORD your God. And all the congregation blessed the LORD God of their fathers, and bowed down their heads, and worshipped the LORD, and the king.
Have you ever wondered what it means to bless the Lord?
I know I need God’s blessings, but David commanded the people to give God their blessing.
· To bless the Lord simply means to say good things about Him.
· To bless the Lord means to speak well of Him
To bless the Lord means to:
· Exalt Him
· Praise Him
· Think highly of Him
And if you will look at our context, it means to do so even in difficult times.
Notice the Psalmist is talking about
· War and
· Fighting
· He’s talking about a fortress and high tower – that’s a place to fight from
· He’s talking about a shield – that’s something to protect your from the arrows being shot at you
· He’s talking about deliverance – that is a rescue from an enemy
· He’s talking about subduing the people[1]– that’s gaining control of a mob
If you can learn to think and speak highly of God, even in the most difficult moments of your life, you are one giant step toward being a happy person.
When you have a church filled with people doing the same – you get to dwell in the midst of a happy people.
Exalt God
Step two,
II. HUMBLE SELF
Psalms 144:3-4 (KJV)
LORD, what is man, that thou takest knowledge of him! or the son of man, that thou makest account of him!
Man is like to vanity: his days are as a shadow that passeth away.
We live in a world teaching exactly the opposite of this.
Modern thinking supposes that the cause of so much unhappiness in our world today is the lack of self-esteem.
They think people are unhappy because they were:
· Spanked as children
· Repressed from their emotions and
· Confined by religion
We are told that the way to make people happy these days is to:
· Allow them to express themselves emotionally
· Permit them to experiment socially (pretend to be a girl when they are really a boy and visa-versa)
· Liberate them morally
Modern teaching blames the strict expectations of previous generations for beating down this generation.
But the Bible teaches us that if we will humble ourselves God may exalt us.
The Bible tells us that if we will take a lower place, others might praise us and bring us to a higher place.
If I believe I deserve to be President of the United States, I will forever be unhappy unless the unlikely[2]happens and I become President.
If, on the other hand, I am humble, not believing I deserve anything:
· I will more likely work to get something and
· I will be happy with whatever I earn
Exalt the Lord
Humble Myself
Step three
III. TRUST THROUGH PRAYER
Psalms 144:5-8 (KJV)
Bow thy heavens, O LORD, and come down: touch the mountains, and they shall smoke.
Cast forth lightning, and scatter them: shoot out thine arrows, and destroy them.
Send thine hand from above; rid me, and deliver me out of great waters, from the hand of strange children;
Whose mouth speaketh vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood.
Psalms 144:11 (KJV)
Rid me, and deliver me from the hand of strange children, whose mouth speaketh vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood:
Prayer is this amazing blend of grace and effort.
On the one hand, we could never earn the blessings of God.
· His resources are so far above our own.
· His holiness so far outshines our sinfulness
We could never deserve answers to the requests we make of the Lord.
We can only come to Him in prayer on the account of His Son, who made the way open through His own sacrifice for us.
On the other hand, we are to labor in prayer
Colossians 4:12 (KJV)
Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.
While I cannot earn answers to prayer, I am to:
· Pray fervently and
· Pray persistently and
· Pray expectantly and
Pray until I get my prayer answered.
Exalt the Lord
Humble self
Trust through Prayer
Step four,
IV. SING
Psalms 144:9-10 (KJV)
I will sing a new song unto thee, O God: upon a psaltery and an instrument of ten strings will I sing praises unto thee.
It is he that giveth salvation unto kings: who delivereth David his servant from the hurtful sword.
Not long ago I read an article by a lady who said her occupation was a “certified music therapist.”
I had never heard of that before so I did a little bit of research. She has been trained to use music to help people with emotional or mental disorders.
She does it from a secular point of view but I find it interesting for two reasons:
Number one, it demonstrates that even the unsaved world can recognize the power of music for both good and evil
Music is not neutral. It is powerful. A musician should be very careful with the selection of and the use of music.
Number two, her occupation was practiced by Christian physicians of many years ago.
I heard a long time ago about a Christian doctor in England who would prescribe to his patients that they listen to certain hymns during their recovery from illness.
Steps to happiness:
· Exalt the Lord
· Humble self
· Trust through Prayer
· Sing
V. AND…
Psalms 144:12-14 (KJV)
That our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth; that our daughters may be as corner stones, polished after the similitude of a palace:
That our garners may be full, affording all manner of store: that our sheep may bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our streets:
That our oxen may be strong to labour; that there be no breaking in, nor going out; that there be no complaining in our streets.
The Psalm teaches that those who:
· Exalt the Lord
· Humble self
· Trust through prayer and
· Sing
Will raise children to maturity
Will have resources aplenty and
Will have communities of unity[3]
Conclusion
Vs 15
Happy is that people, that is in such a case….
[1]The verse actually says, “subdueth my people.” David is blessing the Lord that He has placed him in leadership. This, as we know, was long in coming and had many difficult moments. Like Moses, David led the nation, but his position was always tenuous.
[2]If I believe I deserve it, I almost certainly will not work towards it and thereby guarantee that I never achieve it.
[3]No complaining in the streets.
